(Disclaimer: I do not own the Zoids franchise. Copyright goes to Tomy for making this fantastic series. All that I own are this story, its characters and some concept Zoids that might appear.)
Zoids: Lost Eden
Chapter 0: Prologue
A young girl stirs in the dead of night. Taking care not to wake anyone up, she immediately got dressed and was about to head downstairs when she caught sight of her ring, a golden ring that betrays her true identity. Sentiment caused her to reach for it but eventually decided against it. She had made up her mind to start a new life. And starting a new life meant leaving everything else behind: her past, her memories, and her family.
Sneaking down the stairwell, she carefully made her way down the stairs taking care not to get spotted by their butler who was doing his rounds. When he passed, the girl waited a while longer in the darkness until the faint light he carried vanished into the kitchen hallway. Then she bolted for the mansion's large doors and pushed it slightly open, making a characteristic creak as it did so. For a moment, it seemed that the sound was enough to wake everyone. But once the soft echo died down, silence reigned upon the ancient house once again. Her will growing, the girl forged on.
There was still a stretch of lawn to cross before she reaches the large iron gates and even then, the gates were guarded well, with two Rev Raptors standing guard on the left and right sides of the gate. She had anticipated this though and hid behind one of the nearby shrubs. The Raptors would have to make their rounds in a few minutes time, providing her with the small window she needs.
She was waiting for quite a while and was starting to doze off when one of the Raptors gave out a soft growl. Motioning to the other with its head, the two crossed paths and walked slowly along the stone walls with searchlights flashing down on the pavement below. The girl was alerted to this and waited just a bit more until the two moved to the back of the property. With the guards gone, she dashed to the stone wall and climbed as fast as she can. Her leg got scratched from a protrusion from the wall though, causing her to jerk away in pain and fall down the bushy pavement. Luckily, she had already made it to the other side while the Rev Raptors were just returning from their rounds. As her wounds were not as bad as it looked, she ran ahead until the mansion shrunk from her line of sight. Once she was in the clear, she took one last backward glance at the life she was leaving behind.
"Goodbye Mom. Goodbye Dad."
In the dead of night, the girl ran and ran until the rows of trees that lined the path to her home disappeared and she was greeted by the empty desert road. Stopping to catch her breath, she re-read a note she carried in her pocket until the sounds of a passing convoy alerted her yet again. Her journey was just about to begin.
In the far reaches of the galaxy, there existed a planet called Zi, home to large mechanical lifeforms known as Zoids. Zoids have been used in an ongoing war between the Helic Republic and the Zenebas Empire of Planet Zi.
The arrival of the Earth satellite Globally 3 had forever changed the course of the war, and both sides ended up in a technological arms race, creating more destructive Zoids, one after the other, culminating into the period known as the Devil's War; the battle that saw the advent of highly formidable Zoids like the Death Saurer and the Madthunder. A meteor strike in ZAC 2056 wiped much of this technological progress, forcing the two sides to rebuild from scratch.
Following the post-cataclysm, the war resumed on ZAC 2100 with both sides having renewed old forces and engineered new Zoids. Seven years later, ZAC 2107, the war between the two factions was still in full swing…
"Evasive maneuver! Try to shake those bastards off!" The order resounded loudly from the speakers of the lead Gustav just in time before two shells nearly hit the rear convoy. "How many are we talking about here?"
The Gustav pilot glanced down at the radar and saw three signatures approaching with one appearing to be larger than the other two. Immediately, he ran a check to see if the signatures match any machines recorded in their database. "Sir, it seems we're being pursued by two Command Wolves and a Helic Shield Liger."
Within the cargo hold, an elderly officer grunted upon hearing the news. "Shield Liger? Well, this could get pretty dicey."
"It's been armed with heavy beam cannons." Everyone turned to a young woman looking out through her binoculars. "I don't think this is just a patrol unit that coincidentally caught sight of us. This force was obviously sent in to pursue this convoy."
"Have they figured out what we intend to do at Kalanes?" The officer asked again.
"Hard to say." The woman replied. Outside, the Command Wolves fired at the Gustav's trailer again. Even though none of the shots managed to cause any visible damage, everyone inside felt the shock of the blasts. "Captain, I don't think this unit will cease its pursuit any time soon—We should defeat them here and now! I'll head out in a Sabre Tiger!"
"Wait-" The Captain cut her off. "If your assumption is correct, then the enemy already has intel on the composition of the Zoids here. In that case, I don't think there's any need to hide our power any longer…" He muttered as he turned to face the young woman. "Warrant Officer Nagisa, launch in your own Zoid and take care of these rebels!"
"Yes sir!"
The Gustav convoy did not stop despite the shelling but it did slow down a little so that it doesn't ruin the launch preparation of Sakura Nagisa's Zoid. The cover on the side of the trailer opened to make way for the launch. Inside the cockpit, Sakura set to work on bringing her machine to life. The controls whirred and lights started flashing until the whole view of the hangar was displayed on her monitors. Her Zoid let out a growl as it shook any remains of its slumber off. She was now ready for battle.
"Sakura Nagisa, Geno Saurer launching!" With a single motion, the blue and gray Tyrannosaurus leapt down and charged its pursuers, its leg thrusters driving it at full force. "Two Command Wolf LCs and a Shield Liger MK-II… I think I can handle them in two minutes." Sakura thought as she brought up her weapons panel.
The three Republican Zoids stopped running upon seeing the approaching Guylos Zoid. Immediately, the three all broke off in separate directions not to run but to avoid being wiped out by a single shot. Upon placing considerable distance with each other, the three Zoids started their attack, with the Wolves firing their main guns and the Shield Liger firing its Shock Cannons.
"They're quite good-!" Sakura gritted her teeth as she maneuvered her Zoid away from the incoming shells. She immediately started counterattacking by simultaneously firing the Geno Saurer's Pulse Laser Rifles and Laser Guns in the direction of one of the Command Wolves. While the first Wolf was able to dodge the initial volley, Sakura managed to close the distance and defeat the Wolf with a swipe of her Zoid's claws. Sparing no moment, Sakura immediately got to work on defeating the second Wolf, by shooting it with her guns. Compared to the first, the second one wasn't too lucky and it immediately fell to the Geno Saurer's brutal ranged assault.
"Now, only that Shield Liger remains…"
The Shield Liger wasn't going to take things lying down as it continued assaulting Sakura with its Shock Cannons. Wanting to finish up already, Sakura charged it head on, slugging off the assault with her Zoid's armor. Having closed the distance, Sakura prepared her claws for a melee strike and accelerated but the Liger responded in time by jumping away as she passed. Making a sharp turn as it landed, the Liger shifted to its heavy beam cannons and fired at the Geno Saurer.
"Come on-!" Immediately, Sakura pulled her Zoid away from the shots as she was sure those beams are capable of denting her prized armor. She tried closing in again but the Liger kept her at bay by barraging her with powerful shots, forcing her to engage in a shootout with her own rifles.
"This guy's good-!" Sakura commended her opponent but finally, one of her shots managed to damage the Liger's heavy cannons.
"There-!" Seeing the opportunity, Sakura moved in to finish it off with her claws. The Shield Liger wasn't going down yet though. Immediately, it ejected the damaged cannons and activated its forward E-shield to also charge at Sakura. Not wanting to be damaged by the shock, Sakura pulled away again, which only served to make her opponent bolder as it immediately turned to charge at her direction again.
The seconds felt like hours as the two Zoids tried to land a hit on each other. Finally, Sakura was able to dodge the Liger's charge in a way that she was able to take advantage of the Liger's unshielded rear. Quickly, she launched the Geno Saurer's claws and grabbed the Liger's hind leg, pinning it to the ground. As the Liger stumbled down, Sakura resumed her long range barrage and didn't stop until the enemy Zoid gave out one last roar before dying down. The battle was over.
"That was a tough and clever opponent…" Sakura sighed as she wiped the sweat away from her forehead, brushing off a few strands of her hair away. She took one last look at the fallen Liger before speeding away to catch up with her allies.
When the Geno Saurer was gone, the Liger's pilot emerged from the cockpit of his fallen Zoid. Taking out a satellite radio, he relayed the outcome to his superiors.
"This is Lt. Itsuki reporting. The pursuit failed. The Imperial Convoy seems to be headed in the direction of Kalanes City further up north. All three of our Zoids are lost and- it seems I'm the only survivor…" He relayed with a heavy heart as he looked back on his dead comrades.
"I'm sorry old friend… I'll get back at them for you next time!"